Chemicals are known to affect the health of marine organisms. Strategies and a robust set of techniques to monitor biological effects have been developed over the past decades. Guidelines for the use of the techniques and protocols for their use have been published, and biological effect methods have been implemented in national and international monitoring programmes.
ICES working groups, particularly the working group on biological effects of contaminants (WGBEC) have been instrumental in this process, in collaboration with other ICES working groups as well as international organisations such as the EU, OSPAR and HELCOM. Recently, an expert group with members from OSPAR and HELCOM have recommended a framework for effect-based monitoring that encompasses the existing strategies in the two regions and including input from MEDPOL.
Contaminants can have serious biological effects on marine organisms, with consequences for populations, ecosystems, and potentially human health. This theme session explores how far we've come in developing and applying biological effect monitoring tools, and whether current strategies are fit for purpose. We will examine mechanisms of toxicity, review recent frameworks from OSPAR and HELCOM, and discuss how new technologies and existing data can shape future monitoring efforts. Join us at #ICESASC26 to assess the tools we use to understand pollution impacts – and whether they deliver what we need.
Some mechanisms of toxicity are more likely than others to affect the health of a fish or other marine organism to the extent that there may be population impacts and hence potential consequences for the ecosystem. Such effects are also highly relevant for whether the chemical in question may affect human health. The mechanisms of toxicity that have been highlighted in the above working groups are carcinogenesis, endocrine disruption, genotoxicity, modulation of biotransformation, neurotoxicity and developmental toxicity.
At this time, we are at a point where there is a large amount of data from past activities and new technologies have been evaluated at tested. It is therefore timely to set up a theme session at the ICES Annual Science Meeting to assess the current state of effect-based monitoring, explore emerging tools, and discuss future directions.
